Page 65 of Ruined Promises

The past few days have been a clusterfuck of events all leading up to tonight. Today has been nonstop chaos: checking in vendors, showing the winning restaurants where to set up, and trying not to lose my mind. I had about ten minutes to change in the bathroom stall, where I nearly dropped my phone in the toilet. I’d love to say that I am relaxed now that the party has begun, but that would be the biggest lie of the century, especially since I’ve been running around the ballroom searching for Ben, and he isnothere. In fact, I haven’t seen him all day.

Things have gotten better between us, but since I’ve been slammed at work preparing gift bags and programs, working late into the evening, we haven’t spent much time outside of the office. I haven’t heard from Dominic since our confrontation, and I don’t know if that should be a good thing or not. Ben told me to trust that he would take care of it, so that’s what I’m doing—trusting him. However, the closer we get to his speech and him missing, I’m ready to wring his neck.

Where the fuck are you?

I call his phone once again. “Hi, you’ve reached Ben…” I hang up, not bothering to leave another message.

“Lex, this looks amazing,” Hadley says as I pull her into a hug before doing the same with Brynn and Cal.

“I’m glad you guys could make it,” I greet my friends, but my focus is set on looking around the room.

“What’s wrong?” Hadley grabs my arms to steady me. I love that she can read me so well.

I settle the clipboards in my hand against my hip the same I would holding a child. “I don’t even know where to begin. I’m exhausted, the party has only just begun, and oh, I don’t know, Ben is nowhere to be found, and he’s supposed to give his welcome speech in—” I check my phone for the time. “—in just a few minutes.”

“Lex, relax. We just saw Ben at the bar.” Cal wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side. He nods in the direction of one of the bars, and I find Ben leaning against the bar with his ankles crossed. I sink into Cal a little bit, knowing that he is here, but still angry at his tardiness. He better have a damn good excuse for not at least giving me any sort of heads-up that he apparently had prior commitments on one of the biggest events of my career let alone his company’s.

“Will you excuse me?” I don’t wait for their answer before I head toward the bar.

Ben catches me walking in his direction, and I see the corners of his lips turn upward while mine stay the same.

“Lexi.” His eyes roam over my dress. No, not even the smirk on his lips can calm me down at the moment. “You know Tom Callahan, our VIP sponsor.” Yes, even after the abrupt-ending phone call, we were able to latch Tom on as our VIP sponsor.

I turn to the older gentleman. “Yes, of course, lovely to see you again, sir.”

“Quite the event planner you have here, Harrington.”

“Yes, I plan to keep her around forever.” Ben beams. I don’t miss the double meaning in Ben’s words.

“Sorry to interrupt you both, but I need to get Ben ready for his speech.” I give a smile, but I hope Ben can tell from the tone that I’m not irritated at the moment. When I look down, I notice small bruises on his knuckles.Ben, what have you been up to?

“Yes, of course,” Tom replies and shakes Ben’s hand.

“Have a great night, Tom,” Ben calls as I lead him toward the podium.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I whisper so that no one can hear us but loud and firm enough for Ben to.

Instead of turning right toward the front of the room, Ben tugs on my arm.

“Where are we going? You need to give a speech.”

“And I’m about to, but I needed to do this first.”

Ben hovers his mouth above mine and kisses me, devouring me. His tongue brushes my bottom lip, and when I open, he caresses my tongue with his. When I feel him pull away, it takes a second for me to catch my bearings. My eyes fly open to find Ben smiling down at me.

“You look gorgeous by the way,” he whispers in my ear before heading toward the podium just as John, the operations publisher, announces Ben’s name.

I run my thumb over my lips.

“That was hot as hell.” I jump at Brynn’s voice and turn to find all three of them staring at me.

Ben has never done that—kiss me in public like that.

“I guess you two worked things out?” Hadley questions, and I’m not sure how to respond. Thankfully, Ben begins to talk, saving me from that conversation.

“Good evening, everyone. First of all, let me thank you all for joining us to celebrate the Best of Willow Creek.” Ben looks so comfortable with public speaking. His black tux conforms to every muscle. “I will keep this short and sweet, as I know there is plenty of excellent restaurants here sampling their food and a wonderful assortment of vendors who have all donated some fabulous prizes for our silent auction.

“I’d also like to thank my staff, who has welcomed me with open arms the past few months.” Ben finds me in the crowd and gives a soft smile. “Without them, we wouldn’t be able to put on this event. It’s not also on them, but without you—our readers—we would not be able to do this as well. Your support is what brings out the best in us. One employee, in particular, needs significant recognition for her hard work putting this event together—Lexi Baker, our events director.”

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